For a middle-schooler who’s already traveled much of the country thanks to her U.S. Coast Guard family, the half-hour-plus commute for Alex Schmadeke to her gym in Port Hadlock is no big deal.

In fact, the youngster says, this is exactly where she wants to be.

“I like practice; that’s where we make memories,” Schmadeke says. “None of the stress of homework comes into the gym. It’s just the gym.”

That training — four hours a day, four days a week at Twisters Gymnastics and Tumbling — and her natural talent has Schmadeke competing with some of the top young gymnasts in the region.

An eighth-grader at Sequim Middle School, Schmadeke has racked up some top scores for Twisters Gymnastics since she moved to the area 18 months ago. She made the jump from Level 6 to Level 7 after last year’s state meet and as one of two Level 7 gymnasts for Twisters, she scored four consecutive first place session finishes in all-around scoring, topping her competition at the Freedom Invitational on Jan. 19, A Whale Of A Meet on Feb. 9, the Charity Choice Invitational on Feb. 15 and Cascadian Team Challenge on March 2.

Gymnastics is a year-round sport for Schmadeke, but this is the intense part of her season. She and other young gymnasts train for much of April through November before “meet season” begins in December. It culminates for many with the 2018 Washington Optional State Championships, held this year in Auburn on March 16.

The Sequim youth says she can do well, but notes that her success comes from having a strong team behind her.

“I have the best teammates ever — so supportive,” Schmadeke says. “As long as you have that, you can go far.”

Schmadeke got her start at age 6 or 7 back in Traverse City, Mich., dabbling in the sport one day a week.

“I wanted to go more because I had so much fun,” she recalls.

Her mom Kate says she hoped to get her daughter into as many activities as she could. The gymnastics option had to happen at an early age, as it isn’t easy to jump into the sport as youths advance in age.

Alex progressed through the sport as the family moved to Mobile, Ala., and then, a year-and-a-half ago, to Sequim.

Seeking a team for optional gymnastics, the pair visited Twisters Gymnastics in Jefferson County.

“The first day, she said, ‘This is the place. This is where I need to be,’” Kate Schmadeke recalls. “They took her right in, they embraced her.”

While she says she’s missed an opportunity to connect with her friends in Sequim because of her training schedule, Alex says they are supportive of her and her gymnastics.

In all, the move from Mobile to Sequim has been a good one, Kate Schmadeke says. “The town has definitely embraced us,” she says.

Young Alex Schmadeke has battled through various injuries — a bone bruise had her in a cast for six weeks and a boot for three, she’s broken her arm and fingers, and she says she generally gets sore — to score well enough to advance to Level 7 (out of a maximum 10).

Schmadeke says she can go farther, too.

“I think I can go as far as I want to,” she says.

“She has way more confidence than I ever did,” Kate Schmadeke says.

The sport teaches a number of things, notably time management and how to be a good teammate, Alex’s mom says.

Alex says her favorite event is the floor — “It’s like a big performance,” she says — while beam is probably the most anxiety-inducing discipline.

“I get so nervous,” Schmadeke says. “I’ve just got to take it one step at a time (so) I just try to stay calm. Sometimes it doesn’t work.”